Parting With Tradition
by ms71705
Summary: The Charmed Ones are facing battles with life changes and a mysterious demon who seems to be reviving demons the sisters have vanquished. With major life changes already adding to the stress of their daily lives, the sisters must overcome struggles to fight him.


Through the thick early morning fog forming a blanket over San Francisco, emerged Piper Halliwell in her blue SUV accompanied by her sisters Phoebe Halliwell and Paige Matthews along with the screeching wheels of her car into an abandoned warehouse with conveniently open doors. With the loud slamming of doors as they left the vehicle, they were each struck and sent flying by energy balls on to piles of wooden crates along with cardboard boxes. "Ouch! That is some serious electricity you have there buddy!", retorted Piper to the grizzly demon standing before the siblings. With nothing more than the flick of a finger, he sent more spheres of high voltage towards the three but they managed to move out of dodge before it reached them. "Anybody have a plan? I'm struggling here", bellowed Paige who was much more flustered than usual for obvious reasons. "Yeah, me! We can run," snapped Phoebe with a lighthearted inclination to her statement. "Piper, is he freezing at all?" "Nope, I tried three times already, this is not looking good guys!", she replied. All the while, a figure was lurking in the background watching intently as the sisters fought another demon, something they regularly expressed dismay about. "Pheebs, go around back. There's a pole you can, you know," said Piper whilst simulating how to impale the demon. "Bleurgh!" "Why do you always give me the dirty jobs?" complained the middle sister. Clearly understanding Phoebe's plan of action, so to speak, the remaining two sisters moved to their right so as to divert the attention of the demon away from Phoebe. This did mean, however, that they were his targets. As Piper raised her hands to use her newfound power of 'molecule melting', as she called it, the demon before them began to shake violently. "What is happening?" asked Piper to Paige, who chose not to answer out of shock and distraction by the events unfolding before her. As the creature fell apart into a cloud of smoke with a brief flash of bright white light, Phoebe emerged. "Wow, if it isn't the terminator!", Paige cracked. "I'm much buffer than him, let's be honest, Paige!" and with that, all three climbed back in to the SUV. Piper, still speaking while checking behind to reverse, asked her sisters a question which sadly had become common for them, "What do you think that one wanted?". "Ach," Paige piped up, "who knows? We killed him and it's done!" but in the back of the minds of all three sisters, this rang alarm bells. They knew better than to think an ordeal was over without knowing the reason it occurred in the first place.

Back at the Halliwell Manor, a lot had changed in recent years. Phoebe was preparing to move into a new house. She had fallen in love many times over her charmed years but no love was as powerful as the one she shared with Coop, her Cupid husband. The whole relocation was bittersweet, this was a chance to live alone with her husband but this meant she would have to live apart from her sisters. With music blasting from her stereo laid on the bubble wrap-covered floor, she eagerly jumped from corner to corner of her soon-to-be former bedroom. This room had been with her for around 10 years now, since she swapped her previous quarters with Piper to give her and her then-boyfriend Leo a larger living space. Decorated with plain floral wallpaper mixed with modern electronics, the room was original to Phoebe. Tragically, in the years since defeating the so-called Ultimate Power, also known as close friend Billie's sister, Leo was killed in a non-magical car accident. Phoebe often wondered to herself how different the life of the sisters would be if they still felt the guiding light of Leo. As a spiritual person at the most basic level, Phoebe wished that she felt Leo's presence at least once in a while but being truthful, she couldn't. Piper had always told her that 'they', meaning the Elders, probably wouldn't allow it the same way that they wouldn't allow Prue to interact with the mortal world. Snapping out of her thoughts, the brunette noticed a box in her closet. Intrigued, she edged closer to it and slid it into the open space of her empty room. In the hallway stood Piper, feeling emotional about the day she had been dreading for months now. "What'cha looking at?" she enquired. "I found it in my closet, look it's Wyatt's birthday! He looks so adorable." "Oh I know! Back then I could snap my fingers and he would kiss me but now, I'm lucky to get a smile." expressed Piper, with a sadness weaving through her voice. "Yeah, well he's 7 years old now, they're not supposed to show affection, we all know a lot about withholding feelings in this family!", Phoebe joked. All Piper could do was stay silent to avoid breaking into a fit of tears, so she did. For three whole minutes she stared through watery eyes at her sister. The sister she was looking at was the same sister who had literally been to hell and back, the sister with a quite reassuring innocence. All she could muster was a broken, "I love you so much, do not forget that!". "Piper, I'm only moving seven miles away. Paige can orb me to you, you to me. We have those magical things named cars. Oh, and by the way, I love you too!", replied Phoebe.

Moving the last box down the stairs into the Manor's grand foyer, filled with more boxes of her belongings, Phoebe was hit with a wall of emotion. "You know," she half-heartedly boomed to grab her sisters' attention, "it's strange. I never really noticed how much stuff I have! I moved out of this house a couple of times but I always ended up back here.". Laughing, Piper said "Don't think about coming back for more than two hours! Your room is already a gym for me and missy Paige here! Right, honey. I think it's time for you to leave and never return!". Moving forward to pull her two sisters into a warm embrace, Phoebe tried but failed to hold back tears. In an attempt to lighten the mood, Paige chirped "Hey, you're a single homeowner now! Single home, I mean. We all know you have a personal love machine.". "Ha! I don't how how I feel about you thinking about that?" scoffed Phoebe. " Ok, I'm leaving now. Are you gonna see me out?" she asked with a hint of desperation in her voice. Reluctant to agree, Piper stayed silent and tried to avoid eye contact with her closest relative. Thinking, the oldest and undoubtedly the most eager to hide emotions of the sisters, she made a dash for the stairs but quietly so as not to draw attention to herself whilst the other witches were distracted. "Do you really need three bags for six pairs of shoes? I mean, think, that's two per bag. You can fit much more in!", she heard Paige scolding Phoebe as she calmly climbed the endless stairway to the second floor of the house. 'I made it' thought Piper as she entered her bedroom and locked the door behind her. Letting out a torrent of emotion she sobbed uncontrollably. To some, Piper's current state would seem irrational but losing her lifelong love and effectively her sister in ten years had taken its toll. After a gentle, three-strike tap on the door came Paige's voice asking if her oldest sister was OK. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just need some time.", snapped Piper. She didn't want to seem like she was being mean to Paige but she certainly didn't want to spend time with anybody today. From the other side of the door, Paige responded "OK. I'll be downstairs if you need me.". With that, Paige set off to her own bedroom and gently closed the door behind her.

Three days had passed since Phoebe Halliwell and her husband Coop had moved into their modern ranch style home in Daly City, California which was a short distance from the Manor. The couple, Phoebe thought to herself, were happier than ever. Every day that passed, she felt closer to Coop than she could ever have imagined. It was fair to say that the middle sister had been one half in her fair share of tumultuous relationships. Her love and then lack thereof followed by her marriage to and divorce from Cole, the Source of all Evil, was a major source of heartbreak for her in the past. Every cloud has a silver lining though because without her romantic past she would never have been sent Coop from the Elders, she reminded herself every day. "Hun, did you eat breakfast yet?" asked her lover. "Nope, I was waiting for you baby," she told him whilst lustfully embracing Coop, "what do you want for breakfast?", she asked, taking care to elongate the words to try and be as seductive as she could. "Er, I can't eat. Love has to be spread and all that! I'm so sorry, dinner at six tonight. P.s. you have not choice in the matter," shouted Coop from down the hallway, "be outside three minutes early!". Immediately on hearing the door shut, Phoebe picked up the phone and heard three rings before it was answered on the other end. "Hello, Piper Halliwell?", answered the eldest sister. "Hey, Piper, it's Phoebe." "Oh hi there Miss Real Estate, how are you?" She asked politely. "Erm I'm good I guess, I was wondering if you we're interested in lunch today? It's on me and I'll meet you at the restaurant." "No you know what, you can meet me at home, I mean, my home" she despaired realising I her sister no longer lived with her, "I have to go pick up the new car!" "What a good suggestion, meet ya at one?" "Deal!" Piper popped with excitement.


End file.
